Irish Music

andrear@herald-mail.com HARPERS FERRY, W.Va. - The sounds of the Emerald Isle will color Jefferson County, W.Va., green this weekend. And that's no blarney. Upper Potomac Irish Weekend workshops, concerts and jam sessions in Harpers Ferry and Shepherdstown, W.Va., will showcase Irish music and dance from Friday, Oct. 22, through Sunday, Oct. 24, director Joanie Blanton said. "It's going to be a blast. You can't help but have a good time around Irish music," she said.

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. - Maryland has become a hotbed of Irish traditional music and Billy McComiskey is largely responsible for that. "For my own personal survival, I have to be around music, and the fact that it wasn't here when I got here was disturbing," McComiskey said during a recent phone interview. "When I moved to Baltimore (around 1980) to be with my wife, I couldn't help but notice the potential for an Irish scene. " McComiskey started the tradition of Thursday night Irish music sessions at Kavanaugh's - back when it was a popular Irish bar for police - for about three years after moving to Baltimore.

by Ross Hamilton / photographer see enlargements by clicking on images 'Tis the season for shamrocks and leprechauns, smiling Irish eyes and the wearin' of the green. It seems that everybody is Irish around St. Patrick's Day. Solas, the Irish-American quintet, will perform at Kepler Theater, Friday, March 20, at 8 p.m. "It's a heavy touring time for us," said Seamus Egan, Solas spokesperson, composer and player of banjo, concert flute, whistles, mandolin, guitar, bodhran - an Irish drum -and other percussion.

It's often said that everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day. And that's no blarney. From the wearing of leprechaun hats to the consumption of green beer and corned beef, people of all ancestral backgrounds have embraced the holiday with open arms. Virtually every American city throws some semblance of a party to celebrate March 17. Chicago dyes its river green, New York and Boston compete for the best parade and Kansas City, Mo., starts the day with an Irish Mass, followed by a grand procession through the streets and an annual food drive called "Go for the Green.

katec@herald-mail.com Although she was born and raised in Chicago, you can hear the lilt of Ireland - the rhythms, the inflection - when Liz Carroll talks. That's not surprising since her parents came to America from the "Old Country" - her mother from County Limerick, her father from Tullamore in County Offaly. And sure you can be hearin' the Irish lilt in the music Carroll plays on her fiddle. She'll be joined by Zan McLeod on guitar and mandolin and Billy McComisky on accordion Saturday night at the Frank Center Theater at Shepherd College.

It's often said that everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day. And that's no blarney. From the wearing of leprechaun hats to the consumption of green beer and corned beef, people of all ancestral backgrounds have embraced the holiday with open arms. Virtually every American city throws some semblance of a party to celebrate March 17. Chicago dyes its river green, New York and Boston compete for the best parade and Kansas City, Mo., starts the day with an Irish Mass, followed by a grand procession through the streets and an annual food drive called "Go for the Green.

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. - Maryland has become a hotbed of Irish traditional music and Billy McComiskey is largely responsible for that. "For my own personal survival, I have to be around music, and the fact that it wasn't here when I got here was disturbing," McComiskey said during a recent phone interview. "When I moved to Baltimore (around 1980) to be with my wife, I couldn't help but notice the potential for an Irish scene. " McComiskey started the tradition of Thursday night Irish music sessions at Kavanaugh's - back when it was a popular Irish bar for police - for about three years after moving to Baltimore.

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day on Monday, March 17, with Irish or Celtic music. In addition to The Tommy Fleming Band concert at the Weinberg Center for the Arts in Frederick, Md., on Saturday, other Irish/Celtic music concerts in the Tri-State-area include: · Cormorant's Fancy will perform "A Celtic Celebration" at noon on Friday, March 14, at the Capitol Theatre Center's Wood Center in Chambersburg, Pa., as part of the TGIF performing arts...

andrear@herald-mail.com HARPERS FERRY, W.Va. - The sounds of the Emerald Isle will color Jefferson County, W.Va., green this weekend. And that's no blarney. Upper Potomac Irish Weekend workshops, concerts and jam sessions in Harpers Ferry and Shepherdstown, W.Va., will showcase Irish music and dance from Friday, Oct. 22, through Sunday, Oct. 24, director Joanie Blanton said. "It's going to be a blast. You can't help but have a good time around Irish music," she said.

katec@herald-mail.com Although she was born and raised in Chicago, you can hear the lilt of Ireland - the rhythms, the inflection - when Liz Carroll talks. That's not surprising since her parents came to America from the "Old Country" - her mother from County Limerick, her father from Tullamore in County Offaly. And sure you can be hearin' the Irish lilt in the music Carroll plays on her fiddle. She'll be joined by Zan McLeod on guitar and mandolin and Billy McComisky on accordion Saturday night at the Frank Center Theater at Shepherd College.